Source: Own illustration
Coscine has now been in regular operation for more than three years and is used for research data management by approximately 3,900 researchers from various universities in the DH.NRW network as well as participating NFDI consortia. The blog post “Happy Birthday, Coscine!” provides an overview of Coscine’s development to date.
As the number of users grows and application scenarios diversify, the demands placed on the platform continue to evolve. For this reason, Coscine’s user interface (UI) is undergoing a fundamental redesign. The goal of these changes is to make the platform clearer, more intuitive, and more user-friendly.
Improvements to the User Interface
Coscine can be used in various ways: In addition to the user interface, the API and various S3 clients are also available. The changes to the new user interface therefore primarily affect those who use Coscine via the graphical user interface.
The redesigned user interface offers several improvements: These include a clearer structure, additional filtering and sorting options for projects and resources, and an improved overview of existing content. In particular, the display of metadata profiles and metadata annotation via the user interface is more user-friendly in the new version, making it easier for researchers to store data in accordance with FAIR principles.
Improved Accessibility and Navigation
As part of the web interface update, accessibility is being actively incorporated into the design, and improvements are being implemented. As previously described in the blog post on Coscine’s accessibility, the Coscine team takes requirements for maximum accessibility into account from the very start of new feature development and is continuously working to remove existing barriers.
Important information, such as maintenance notices or the latest announcements, will also be displayed more prominently directly within Coscine in the future. In addition, access to other tools – such as the AIMS metadata profile generator and the Swagger API – will be made easier directly from within Coscine.
Try It Out Right Away!
Starting now, users can try out the new web interface (UI) in a beta version and explore the changes that have already been implemented. A pop-up window allows users to choose for themselves whether they’d like to test the new web interface now or continue working in the familiar environment. All actions (e.g., creating projects, creating resources, quota management, etc.) performed in the beta version will be visible in both the new and the previous interfaces. Please note that the new version is not a test environment; rather, both versions will coexist until the new version is available with full functionality.
We would be delighted if you would start using the new user interface now and get a first impression of the updated environment! Please note that further adjustments are planned and that this is merely a beta version, which we are happy to make available to users early on so they can get a first impression. We appreciate any feedback on the changes and would be happy to receive it via email.
Community Feedback Is Being Incorporated
Feedback from user surveys conducted in 2025 and 2026 was taken into account during the development of the new user interface. This means that feedback from the community is being directly incorporated into the ongoing development of Coscine, and we are very excited that, together, we are creating an even better platform for research data management!
Learn More About Coscine
We’re delighted that so many researchers are already using Coscine for their research data management, and we look forward to your feedback on the new user interface.
Would you like to stay informed about the latest news regarding Coscine? Then visit the Coscine website and subscribe to the Coscine newsletter to stay up to date once a month.
If you have any questions about Coscine or research data management, the RDM team at RWTH Aachen University is happy to assist you at any time.
Responsible for the content of this article are Katja Jansen and Arlinda Ujkani.
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